


Leia's Helpers

by rinskiroo



Series: For the Holidays you can't beat Fic Sweet Fic [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adorable Orphans, F/M, Fluff, Fun Aunt Leia, Life day, Mutual Pining, Poe needs a nap, Rey too, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 06:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17198636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinskiroo/pseuds/rinskiroo
Summary: Poe's been up and down, but working hard.  Rey's just trying to fit in.  Leia sends them out together to pick up supplies for the Resistance, and a little something extra.For the Life Day prompt: "Was it Leia's idea?  Did she put you up to this?"





	Leia's Helpers

Rey realized quickly that while her friendship to Finn had come natural and easy, most relationships didn’t work that way.  She shouldn’t really have been surprised, she told herself.  It had taken her twenty years to find a friend like Finn—not that she had many opportunities until he literally fell out of the sky.

On Jakku, she understood people in that they had motivations—usually things like food and shelter.  But that was it.  Those were base instincts, not really any more than other creatures out in the desert.  She didn’t have much to compare them to, though she always hoped there were more people like her.  Someone who had compassion and dreams.  Perhaps she had never given the denizens of Jakku enough credit, or maybe it was just too small of a sample size.

Despite now being around a very different set of people who had a host of new quirks and interests, Rey still found it difficult to find the same sort of companionship with others in the Resistance that she had found with Finn.  Some of the people looked at her with a sort of reverence or awe, others with confusion.  She wondered if they learned about some of her conversations with Kylo Ren, if they would look at her with disdain.  Perhaps there was a fear on her part, of always being the outsider, that kept others at an arm’s length.

Leia was different.  If Rey had any context for what a mother or a “fun aunt” was, she was both of those things.  (Poe was the one that told her Leia was the “fun aunt.”)  Leia saw through her—Rey was sure she saw through everyone.  And she made no judgments, but accepted everyone with all of their flaws and found ways to play to whatever strengths her people had.  It was inspiring, really, in a way that Rey hoped she could emulate.

“Commander Dameron has been pushing himself quite hard,” Leia said in passing as they stood around the make-shift ops tent, waiting for ally transmissions that were likely never coming.

“Is he Commander again?” Rey asked in an amused tone.

“I figured he’s earned it back.  Though, at this rate, I’ll have to make him a General as I’m the only one of those left.”

“He blames himself,” Rey said after a quiet moment.

“Hero’s burden,” was all Leia said on the subject.  She picked up a datapad and handed it to Rey.  “Supply pickup.  With Finn and Chewie on special assignment, have Dameron go with you in the _Falcon_.”

“If it’s just a pickup, I can take care of it, Leia.  I’m sure Poe’s neck deep—”

But Leia didn’t let her finish her protest.  “No solo missions, Rey.  It’s too dangerous.”

“Yes, General,” Rey answered with a nod.

Rey found Poe where he often was: standing in front of a map of the galaxy with red blinking lights indicating First Order forces.  There were yellow lights, too—neutral parties they were hoping to bring over to the cause.  Along with very few blue ones—their dwindling allies.  He was wearing the dark trousers and leather jacket that had become his usual outfit.  It was rare these days for him to be seen in the standard pilot’s orange flight suit.  He spent almost all his time planning and directing the missions, hardly ever sitting in an X-Wing anymore.

Rey found it quite sad, but probably not as much as he did.

“Commander,” she started, drawing his attention away.

“Rey,” he said with a smile.  He seemed to always smile when he saw her.  It was definitely something she noticed, and tried not to find a little unnerving, because she always smiled back.  “What’s going on?  Did something happen?”

“No, the General has a mission for us.”  She handed over the datapad for him to look over.  “I told her I could take care of it, but you know she’s set on the buddy system these days.”

“Yeah, we’re much bigger targets alone.  Especially you.”

“I can handle myself,” she told him defensively.

“I know you can.”  He gave her another one of those disarming smiles.  “But—isn’t there someone else?  I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”

Rey shrugged her shoulders.  “Special assignment or something.  It looks like everything is running smoothly,” she said, glancing around the few terminals with people talking into their headsets.  “Shouldn’t take too long.”

Poe sighed and looked back down at the datapad.  “Half of these manifests are empty.  Did she tell you what we’re picking up?”

“Supplies.”

Another sigh and he rolled his eyes skyward.  She felt apologetic, and awkward, for taking him away from his little mission control, but Leia was the boss, and he knew that.  Poe barked out a few orders to the people in the tent and handed the reigns off to Connix who was happy to take over command.

With the _Falcon_ fueled and ready, they were off within the hour.

Poe was oddly quiet, Rey thought, as he sat in the cockpit with his feet kicked up lazily onto the other seat.  Though she hadn’t really taken the time to engage in conversation—she kept herself busy checking the different systems, counting the supplies they had on board, and other super interesting and important activities.  Usually, Poe had a story or two to tell, whether someone wanted to hear it or not.  And just when Rey thought she’d heard them all, he’d come up with something new.  This time, he sat quietly and fiddled with the comm switches.  Rey figured he he had either finally ran out of stories, or just wanted to be left alone, so she busied herself with other tasks.

 

 

“What’s that?” Poe asked.

Rey knew he was there—she always had a good sense of where he was.  Not _all_ the time, but he was the only other life form in the vicinity so it was easy to keep tabs on him.  It did startle her a bit that he just kind of appeared above her while she was working underneath the floor grates with a rather abrupt question.

“Hyperlane mapping port.”

“Should you really be fiddling with that while we’re in hyperspace?”  He wasn’t challenging her—sounded more _concerned_ , really.

“Don’t tell me how to fix this ship, Commander.”  Rey frowned and wagged a spanner at him before turning back to what she was doing.  “It’s constantly ten seconds away from shuddering into a thousand pieces.”

“I’d rather those pieces not be across three systems.  Kind of hard to put back together.”

She heard him breathe heavily.  Not really a sigh, but also sounding rather out of sorts about the situation.  His heavy boots walked away, down into another part of the ship.

They arrived at their destination in one piece the next day.  It was a mostly automated, vast space station used as a freight shipping waypoint.  The first non-droid they met was a short, stout man with a long, scraggly beard who apparently hadn’t been told beforehand that the _Millennium Falcon_ was coming to pick up the General’s groceries.  Rey also got the feeling they were the first non-droids he had met in awhile, too.

“Does it still do point six past lightspeed?  Ready that in a spice runner’s almanac.”

“Not these days, but she’s still got it when it counts,” Rey said, looking down at him with a grin.  He only came up to about her waist, but had a firm grip when they shook hands.

“These supplies will go a long way to getting the old girl back to fighting shape—and the rest of the Resistance,” Poe added as he handed the datapad over to the man.

The man gave Poe an odd sort of look.  Confused, or maybe just amused.  Rey couldn’t tell—his beard was in the way of most of his facial expressions and his presence in the Force was more excited.  Probably just thrilled to be having a conversation where someone talked back.

“Well, they’re yours now.”  He keyed in a few commands into the datapad, swiped his finger over the lists, and dumped them into a received goods folder.  “All the container numbers are there.  Just tell one of the droids and they’ll help transfer it into your cargo holds.”

“What’s this?” Poe asked, pointing over the man’s shoulder at the screen.

“That’s the coordinates the Princess gave me for crates one through ten.  The rest she said to bring home.”

Poe looked up at Rey.  “Did you know about this?  We’re doing a delivery to a system in the opposite direction?  This could take days.  Or longer if it’s near any hot spots.”

But Rey was just as confused as Poe.  She, too, was under the impression they were on a milk run—pick up supplies and return straight away.  Easy as.  She shrugged her shoulders and took the pad that was offered back.  “I’m sure Leia has a good reason for it.”

“I’m sure she does.”  He frowned and let out another not-sigh.  Resigned this time.

“Don’t worry, Commander.  I’m sure we’ll have you back to your briefings and mission boards in no time.”

With hands planted on his hips, Poe frowned even deeper, but Rey didn’t stick around to indulge his pouting—whatever his problem was.  Rey was beginning to wonder if he just didn’t like her, which was quite the departure from where she thought they stood yesterday.  Maybe he was pleasant enough towards her when they were around other people, but didn’t really want to be around her all the time.  She never felt any malice or disgust from him though.  It left her feeling quite uncertain, which she didn’t like one bit.

Despite Poe’s questions and concerns about the details of this mission, he assisted Rey in ensuring all the cargo made it into the _Falcon_ _’s_ hold.  He even made sure the crates were organized in a way that they wouldn’t have to move them too much for the extra delivery.  Everything was accounted for and checked off the list.  They thanked the loadmaster of the space station (Poe also made sure to thank the droids), and were soon on their way.

It wasn’t too long of a jump to the first location.  Rey stopped tinkering with the engines long enough for the two of them to sit in the galley and have a quiet dinner of rehydrated meat product.  They talked about absolutely nothing—Rey mentioned a book she was reading, but Poe hadn’t heard of it.  Poe talked about some speeder race he’d been to years ago, but couldn’t remember who won, only that there had been really great fried plantains.

“Why is it always the food?” she asked him.

“What do you mean?”

“Whenever you tell a story, you always talk about what you ate when that’s the least important part.”

“Says you,” Poe told her with a grin.  “Food is very important to a good story.”

Rey shrugged.  It was hard to think of food as anything but the means to not dying.  Though the foods Poe, and others in the Resistance, talked about sounded interesting, she didn’t have much reference for food that didn’t come in a packet with instructions to just add water.

“We should be able to get a few hours of sleep before we arrive,” Poe said as he started cleaning up.

“Are you going to?” she asked.  Then, when he looked confused, clarified: “Sleep?”

He frowned, again.  It was beginning to look too worn on him.  But then, the corner of his lip curled slightly.  “Maybe Leia thought this might be a good way to give me a break.”

“Maybe.”

“Are you going to make sure I go to bed?  Tuck me in?”

Something tickled in her stomach that made her shift uncomfortably in her seat.  “No, of course not,” she answered quickly and turned away from him.  What a silly question.  Not to mention it was difficult to tell if he was being sarcastic or serious.  It had to be sarcasm—that would be typical Poe—but he had been so broody and serious lately.

There was a laugh, small, maybe a little embarrassed.  “Sorry.  I was kidding.  Guess I’m not all that funny when I’m tired.  Okay.  Well.  Goodnight.”

Rey didn’t glance back at him until he was at the door and watched as he walked down the hall towards the sleeping quarters.  She wished she could figure him out.  At least now any inkling she had that he actually _didn_ _’t_ like her was mostly dispelled.  He could have been teasing, or not, but he wasn’t being cruel.  Rey knew enough about Poe to know he wasn’t that type.

She moved from the galley and relaxed in the captain’s chair, catching quick rounds of sleep ten minutes at a time.  She could have slept more comfortably in the captain’s quarters, but wanted to keep an eye on the ship’s systems.  It wasn’t too long of a jump, and she was used to catching sleep when and where she could.  Rey knew Poe was used to that as well, but lately he’d looked worn down and needed the rest in a real bed.  He could have it now, and she’d find the time later.

“I thought we were both going to get some sleep.”

Rey startled awake at the sound of his voice and the smell wafting from the cup of caf hovering near her face.  She swore she only shut her eyes a minute ago, but if the aching in her calves propped up on the console was any indication, she’d been dozing for quite some time.

“I slept,” she said as she let out a yawn and took the mug from him.  “Thank you.”

Poe sat in the co-pilot’s seat and slurped at his caf while looking through the nav and comm instruments.  No transmissions, no deviations from course, and they should be there within a few minutes.  Everything was just as it should be.

“What is this place we’re going to anyway?” Poe asked.

Rey only shrugged.  She had as much information as he did.  Well, that wasn’t entirely true.  She had looked it up while he was sleeping, but all she found was that it was a backwater, nothing world.  There was no nearby hyperspace route—they had to make the last set of jumps without the benefit of mapped lanes.  They were lucky there was even a HoloNet relay satellite around one of the planets in the system.  It was not a place of strategic value, and from the scans they were able to do at this distance, no major resources either.

“Okay, well, we’ll just play it by ear then,” Poe said when she didn’t answer.

“I think it’s going to be fine,” she told him slowly as she carefully sipped at her caf.

She was still rather new at the Force thing.  Well, rather new at using it on purpose—using it with a purpose.  When she reached out, as well as she could, she had felt no malice coming for them.  There was no danger lurking just beyond the shadows.  It was actually rather odd, this relative safe feeling.  Perhaps it came from the fact that no one knew of this mysterious place they were going.

“Good to know.”

“I don’t think we should take any weapons.”

“Yeah, you lost me there.  We don’t know what we’re walking into.”  Poe leaned back and sipped at his caf again, clearly thinking on something.  “I think I’ve got a holdout in my bag.  At least that would be concealed.”

“You need to trust me on this,” Rey told him with some force behind her words.  Then, as an added afterthought, “Commander.”

Poe looked over at her with an odd look on his face.  Not exactly confused, but more perplexed.  Like a puzzle he couldn’t quite figure out.  “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Calling me by my rank instead of my name.”

Rey blinked at him.  It was something she had done without even really realizing it.  Perhaps a few times she had said it as a way to push back against his authority, but that hardly made sense.  Or she used it because he was the authority and she was just a Resistance hanger-on.  It also kept a formal boundary up.  Name’s were personal.  Intimate.

“I thought since this was a mission, it was appropriate.”

He smirked that damnable smile.  The one that easily snuffed out any bullshit.  But he let it slide, let her have it, for now.  “Okay, what do I call you then?”

“Leia hasn’t given me any sort of military rank,” she said, thinking out loud.  She supposed in Jedi terms she could be a Padawan, but a Padawan of nothing—no Order, no Master.  So that didn’t make any sense.  Then, she smiled.  “I suppose I’m the Captain of the _Falcon_.”

“All right then, Captain.”  He gave her a lazy sort of salute and finished his caf just in time for the proximity alarm to alert them that they were close to their destination.  “Instructions said to just send in the code and then land at these coordinates.  Hopefully they got the memo and don’t shoot at us.”

Rey handed her mug to Poe and took over the controls.  “I don’t think they have any weapons.  I don’t think they have much of anything, to be honest.”

Poe gave her a sideways look, now holding two caf cups.  “I don’t think the Force is a weapons-grade sensor array.”

“You want to put credits on that?” she asked him, shooting him a grin as the _Falcon_ zipped through the atmosphere.

“I’ll take that bet,” he replied, smiling back at her.  “If I win, you gotta actually use my name.”

“Fine—if I win, you have to actually take a break and enjoy yourself.”

“Not getting shot at will definitely help me enjoy myself.”

But Rey was right, and all the information they’d been given about this drop off was indeed correct.  There was one, small HoloNet satellite that casually relayed comm information.  There was no power grid anywhere on the small planet that they were landing on.  Their landing location was a small commune next to a slow-moving river with two prefab buildings that ran on geothermal power along with a few mud and stick huts.

As the _Falcon_ slowed down to find a spot on the grass where they could land, Poe dumped the caf mugs into the galley sink and quickly snapped off his gun belt.  He tossed it onto the couch as he rushed down to the cargo bay.  Rey shook her head after him, but smiled to herself.

He already had the ramp down when she’d shut down the systems and made her way to the back, datapad with the manifest in hand.  She was only mildly surprised to see the sorts of friends he had made already.  A half dozen children were swarmed around Poe—different species of different colors, all with big, curious eyes.  Some patted at his trousers and asked why he didn’t have a blaster—all spaceship captains had blasters.

“I’m not the Captain,” she heard him say.  “She is.”

A little girl at the front of the pack gasped loudly and clapped her hands together.  Immediately, the girl ran up to Rey, weaving through the stacks of crates, and demanded to know where her space captain’s blaster was.

“I don’t have one,” Rey said, but then she jutted her hip out slightly, jingling the metal cylinder on her belt.  “Don’t need one.”

Poe was glaring at her over the crates.  _That_ _’s cheating,_ he mouthed at her.

There were more gasps as the little ones left Poe and swarmed around Rey instead.  She laughed and tried to push through them down towards the ramp.  “Okay, okay… take me to your leader then and let’s get your supplies sorted.”

There were fewer adults than Rey expected to see.  It looked as if most working the farming equipment were teenagers.  Eventually, they found a beleaguered older gentleman who gave them a hearty handshake.  He introduced himself as Nic and that he had been running this refuge for years, even before the First Order attacked the Hosnian system.  He kept shaking Poe’s hand and thanking them profusely for the delivery.

“You have General Organa to thank,” Poe told him.

“Again and again, we find ourselves in her debt.  Stay the evening with us and enjoy the celebration.  It’s the least we could do.”

“We really need to be getting—”

Rey cleared her throat, clearly cutting him off.  “Commander Dameron, I believe I won our little wager.”

Poe forced out a grin and nodded sharply.  “I’d be happy to help you unpack those crates, sir.”

“Wonderful!” Nic said, clapping his hands together.  “Don’t let the kids open them though.  It’s a surprise!”

Rey and Poe shared a look, wondering what surprise there was in food and tools, but went along with the request.  A few of the bigger kids came out with grav-carts and helped Poe load up the crates marked for their commune and shuttled them off to the hut they were using for storage.  Rey rearranged the cargo hold and later joined Poe after he’d chased prying eyes away once they’d finished unloading.

“Does the manifest say what the ‘surprise’ is?” Poe asked as she lifted the flap on the hut and walked in.

“No.  Most of these are labeled—food, spare parts, tools—but some are completely blank.”

Poe picked up a crowbar and started cracking into one of the unlabeled crates before Rey had the chance to stop him.  “I don’t like surprises,” he grunted as he pushed the lid off.

Whatever was in the crate stopped Poe clean in his tracks.  His face went from one of determined curiosity to stunned silence.  He reached inside, pushed some things around, and Rey waited to see the results of his search.

“Did Leia put you up to this?” he asked, glancing over at her.

“I thought we already established I also had no idea this stop was on our agenda.”

He stuck his hand in the crate and yanked out a fuzzy, white and brown object.  He squeezed it and it let out a long, cawing squeal.  It was a noise Rey had become quite familiar with.

“Is that—?” She almost laughed and then shimmied around the small hut full of crates to look into the one he’d opened.  In addition to the plush, noise-making porg toy Poe had in his hand, there were dolls, blocks, balls of varying sizes, fanciful and colorful clothing items, and more.  Poe put the toy back and popped open a second crate.  This one had stacks of datapads with packets of datachips full of novels and school books, holo-movies and games.

“Rey…” Poe said her name with a sigh.  “What’s the date?”

“Did you lose track?” she asked him with a grin.

“She did this on purpose.”

“I’m sure she did.”  Rey looked in at the items they’d brought, albeit unknowingly.  The regular, mundane supplies would make the lives of the people here better, but that was surviving.  The things in these crates meant something much more.  “They’re going to be so excited.  I can’t wait to see their little faces.”

Beside her, Poe smiled.  Though she could still feel his annoyance at having been played like this, it was fading.

Smells wafted in the air from outside the hut that reminded Rey that they hadn’t eaten since before arriving in the system.  “What do you think, Commander?  Think you could play Father Life Day for an evening?”

“No red suit, but I don’t think the kids will mind once we pop open these.”  He picked up the tops of the crates and closed them back up before loading the ones with the gifts back onto grav carts.  They discreetly parked it next to the longer of the prefab buildings, used as the main gathering house, and followed their noses inside.

It was a hearty stew full of the root vegetables they were growing here served with plump rolls.  It wasn’t much, but it was warm and filling.  Rey found the taste earthy and unlike anything she’d ever eaten before—something she was sure she’d remember for the rest of her life.

The children all wanted to bunch up around where Poe and Rey were sitting, but there was only so much room.  They would get corralled back to their seats to eat, and then slowly creep back towards where Poe was telling a story.  They had been quite interested in Rey and tales of the Jedi and the _Millennium Falcon_ , but when she told them that this was _the_ Poe Dameron who flew a souped-up X-Wing and had an adorable BB droid as a co-pilot, they became far more interested in stories about starfighters and space battles.

Rey liked this version of Poe—relaxed, confident, and personable.  She didn’t dislike serious, hard-nosed Poe, but the version sitting next to her felt the most authentic.  He listened intently to every child’s question or tangential comment, even the ones who couldn’t articulate clearly or quickly.  He even managed to keep some of the more restless kids on task to finish their dinners with promises of this mysterious surprise at the end.  Rey could tell their caretakers were particularly appreciative of that.

After cleanup, which again the promise of a great surprise propelled the children to quickly take care of their dishes and sweep up the hall, the gaggle of children ranging from toddlers to teenagers along with a handful of adults clustered in a group in the middle of the hall.  They’d pushed the tables out of the way and stacked the chairs in a corner to make room.  Though there wasn’t any festive decorations or a tree, there was the hush of anticipation as Poe pushed the grav-cart into the building.

“All right,” he said, coming to a stop in front of the group.  All heads swiveled to follow him intently.  “Who do you all think is at the top of the Nice List this year?”

There was whispering amongst the crowd and several shaking heads.

“I think it’s me!” said a young voice, but was quickly pushed back with complaints of shirking on chores or taking the last muffin.

“I think it’s Rasah,” one of the teenage boys said.  The response was almost all positive from the crowd.

“Shut up, Moris,” a girl’s voice said in response.

Rey spotted a Twi’lek girl, maybe fourteen or so, with blue skin standing in the back next to one of the adults.  Though now she seemed to be turning nearly purple with a blush and trying to step back out of sight.

“Yeah, Rasah!” another child agreed.  “She’s always helping with my letters!”

“She did my share of the chores when I broke my arm in the spring,” the boy, Moris, told them.

“Well,” Poe said, smiling at the girl.  “Sounds like Rasah is at the top, and gets first pick from the care package that Father Life Day sent.”

More excited whispers swept through the group along with clapping and cheering.  A reluctant Rasah was prodded forward and stood politely up front with Poe and Rey, hands folded in front of her.

“Is there something you wished for Life Day, Rasah?” Rey asked her quietly.  She could tell the girl was nervous about being the center of attention.  Rey watched her glance at the crates on the cart as if debating if what she wanted could really be inside.

“I’d like something new to read,” she said finally.  “I’ve even read the harvester manual.  I’d really like something with adventure—about pilots, maybe.”  She looked hopefully at Poe, maybe with a bit more than just admiration.

“We’ve got just the thing,” Rey told her with a smile and popped the lid off one of the crates.  She watched as the girl’s eyes lit up upon seeing what was inside.  Rey pulled out one of the datapads and a sleeve of datachips and handed it to her.  “These should take you on all sorts of adventures.”

“Wow!  This is amazing!  Thank you so much!”  The girl’s large eyes were watery and Rey could feel the emotion pinching in her chest.  Thankfully, they both managed to get through the moment composure in tact.

“Rasah, do you think you can help us with something?” Poe asked her, to which she nodded enthusiastically.  “We don’t know all the other children very well.  Do you think you could help us pick out the gifts they’d like?”

Over the next hour, the crates were slowly depleted.  Toys and trinkets made their way into the hands of overjoyed children and adolescents.  There were still some left and all agreed they’d be stored away for others that found their way to this haven.  Though excited by the evening’s events, there were several yawns across the hall and the sun had long since set.  Poe and Rey said their goodbyes to the children, both receiving hugs around their waists and pleas for more stories, but they were all ushered off to their bunks.

The old man that had greeted them when they arrived saw them off.  He walked them back to their ship with more thank yous for everything that they’d done.

“There’s an emergency transponder in your supplies,” Poe reminded him.  “So if you’re ever in any trouble, don’t hesitate to call.”

“We’re well hidden here, Mr. Dameron, but thank you.  Many thanks to Princess Leia as always.  And to you, Miss Rey.”

Rey shook his hand and followed Poe up the ramp into the _Falcon_.  Before she went inside, she glanced back at the building, still with the lights on.  Many little faces were pressed up against the windows.  The man had turned and was already walking back towards the commune.  It would be irresponsible to get them all riled up right before bed, but today was special, for many different reasons.

Rey slipped her lightsaber off her belt and ignited the new blade.  She twirled it quickly with a flourish around her wrist and then tucked it right back, as if nothing had happened.  She smiled ear to ear as she turned and finished the trek up the ramp.  She could almost hear them squealing in their bunks.

Within minutes, they were up out of the atmosphere and back in hyperspace.  It was a bit longer jump back to the Resistance, but Rey was looking forward to getting a decent amount of sleep this time around.  She was relaxing on the bench in the lounge, enjoying a bit of light reading before turning in for the night when Poe found her.

“Hey, Rey,” he said, dropping her name smoothly, easily drawing her attention.

She glanced up from her datapad, curious.  There was just a tad of nervous energy coming off of him, and there was something in his pocket he kept double checking was still there.

“I have a confession: I didn’t actually forget that it was Life Day.”  He took a couple steps towards the couch and pulled a small box out of his pocket.  “I got you something.”

Rey set her datapad down and stood up, curiously eyeing the object in his hand.  She’d never really gotten a present before.  Well, Han had given her a blaster, Maz a lightsaber, and Chewie let her keep the _Falcon_ even if by all rights it was his, but this felt different.  There was something personal and intimate, even though she had no idea what it was, that was the energy she perceived from him.

He deposited it in her hand with an almost shy grin on his face.  It was a look Rey did not expect to see on him.

“It’s a puzzle cube,” he explained after she popped open the box and peered at the mysterious object inside.  “Finn said you liked puzzles.  The guy that sold this to me said it was a master level difficulty, whatever that means.”

It fit in her hands and had intricate little designs all over it.  Parts twisted and looked like they might fit together to form a sort of script.  There were tiny, inlaid dials and buttons.  It all looked quite complex.  She almost got to work straight away on it—it was very intriguing—but she stopped and smiled back at Poe.

“I do like puzzles.  Thank you.”  She was a loss at what to say.  A simple “thank you” didn’t seem like enough to express her gratitude.  At the beginning of this trip, she was unsure if he even liked having her around, and now…  He’d carried this with him the whole time knowing full well, though unplanned, they’d be spending the holiday together.  That odd tickling sensation was creeping around in her insides again.

“Well, I’ll let you relax.  I’m sure the General will have more tasks for us when we get back.”

“Poe—”

Rey didn’t realize she was reaching for him as he turned away until her fingers grazed against his jacket.  He smirked at her that triumphant sort of grin.  “You called me by my name.”

“I did.  I like your name.”  She tried not to cringe as she desperately tried to think of something more elegant and meaningful to say in this moment.  “I didn’t know what to think of you, so I tried to be professional.  Or something.”

“I’m an open book,” he said, his grin growing wider.  “If you ever have any questions, all you have to do is ask.”

Her head shook slightly because Poe wasn’t as open as he thought, but then she had responded almost in kind.  Even though she enjoyed his company, his stories, and his warmth, when he chose to show it, she had kept this buffer between them under the guise of being professional.  Rey, who had never let fear stop her, realized she quite liked Poe, but was afraid.

Perhaps at her unsure silence, Poe’s smile fell.  He reached out and touched her shoulder, picked something off of it, but let his fingers linger.

“No, you’re right.  I lost a lot of people I cared about.  Almost lost Finn, and Rose, and Leia.  Maybe I thought it’d be easier to shut people out than risk losing them.”

“But it’s making you miserable.”

He let out a small laugh, a hint of that smirk returning.  “See, I am an open book.”

There was a fluttering of emotion she felt from Poe that surprised her, because it all felt very familiar—like a mirror.  She wasn’t trying to pry into his mental state, he was just always _there_.  Maybe it was his claimed open personality, or that she wanted to be open to him that always made him creep into her awareness.

“I have something for you,” she said, more confident now.

“Oh?”

They were already standing so close—closer than Rey could ever remember being to him.  She moved a step in further and smiled when he didn’t move back and instead watched her intently.  As she leaned her face towards his, her eyes drifted closed and she pressed her lips firmly to his.  It lasted barely a second, because despite her confidence in what she felt, she was unsure of his response.

“Not to be rude,” Poe said, his tongue darting out slightly to run along his lips, “but was that like a one time thing or do you have a subscription service?”

“A what?”

Poe grinned and kissed her again.  This time, it was full with enthusiastic participation on both sides.  Rey slipped her arms inside of his jacket and wrapped them around his waist while he held her head with his hands.

“Do you think Leia planned this, too?” Rey asked after a moment.

“Probably.”

 

 

When Rey recounted the story of their out-of-the-way delivery to Finn when they got back to the Resistance, she made sure to tell him about the stew the community had shared with them.

“The potatoes just melted right on your tongue.  I’ve never had anything like it.  I’ve been thinking of trying to set up a hydroponics area in the _Falcon_.”

Chewie howled and nodded.  It seemed everyone was tired of the dehydrated rations.

Leia walked up, with Poe at her heels, discussing logistics of some future, important mission.  He was quick to get back to work, but everyone seemed to notice his more upbeat mood, and were thankful for it.  Leia, though, held up her hand and settled into a chair at the table they were seated around.

“I want to hear all about the kids—everyone of them.  And Nic, how’s he doing?”

“Leia…” Rey started, but then glanced at Poe as he pulled a chair over and wedged it in next to her, not subtle at all.  “Why didn’t you just tell us what we’d be doing?”

“I like surprises,” she said, a doting twinkle in her eyes.  “Nice ones, anyway.  I knew you all would see it through, even without all the details.  The secrecy is important to keep them all safe.”

“The General sent us on a similar escapade,” Finn said, and Chewie grunted in confirmation.  “Rose and Jess on another; Snap and Karé, too.”

“I’m glad,” Poe said, his hand reaching over to Rey’s and squeezing it gently.  “It was nice to fly around and bring joy for a change.”

“One day, we won’t have to hide, and that will be the happiest Life Day,” Rey said thoughtfully.

Poe lifted her hand out of her lap and pressed his lips to her fingers before tucking it back down in his lap, his other hand clasping over the top.  “I can’t wait,” he told her.

Rey could feel the grins of their companions around them, but no shocked gasps.  She looked at Leia, who again had that cheeky grin on her face that made her wonder if that’s where Poe got it from.  Rey smiled and nodded in agreement.  The galaxy was riddled with fear and doubt, but there were bright spots—moments of good will and cheer.  Those moments would multiply and spread.  With fire in their hearts and the Force at their backs, one day, that sort of joy would reach every corner of the galaxy and push back the darkness.

As Rey smiled at Leia, she knew that she saw it—had seen it this whole time.  As Poe squeezed her fingers, she could feel it from him as well.  She squeezed back, and she believed it, too.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Missed you again this year, Carrie.


End file.
